Dryden football concludes first-ever 8-man season

The word that best describes the 2025 season for high school football in Tompkins County is ‘change.’ Some programs moved up to 11-man, while others ventured down to eight-man. Some teams saw new head coaches take charge. Dryden went through both coaching and class changes and found their way back to the postseason.

In the Lions’ first-ever year experiencing eight-man football, they made the playoffs for the first time since 2022 when they were in the independent league. It was also the first year for Chris Nightingale at the helm, who was previously their defensive coordinator under their last two head coaches (Justin Wood and Ralph Boettger). Nightingale knew the eight-man game led to plenty of high-scoring shootouts, but he was surprised by how much offensive explosiveness the game could be.

“It’s amazing how much of an effect those less three players have on a field,” Nightingale said. “The helter-skelter nature that happens in some of these plays is kind of fun to watch and terrifying all at the same time. When the play breaks down, the cutback lanes that are available in eight-man are not available in 11 man, When you’re on offense, it’s great. When you’re on defense, you’re like, ‘Oh my.’”

The Lions started off the season strong with back-to-back blowout wins over New York Mills and Elmira-Notre Dame. They then traveled to Moravia to a highly-anticipated contest and hung in there with the powerhouse Blue Devils. But a hamstring injury to star running back Jay Miles late in the first half hampered the Lions’ attempt to make it three wins in a row, as Moravia pulled away.

The Lions rebounded with a win over Newfield but then lost their final three games of the regular season. While the results may not have gone their way during the second half of the campaign, they showed great growth in multiple areas, particularly in the trenches.

“Our offensive line play has gotten so much better,” Nightingale said. “Our overall growth as an offensive line once Jay hurt his hamstring against Moravia to improve themselves for the other backs and Melo [Miles], it’s been fun to watch, and they’ve really worked hard to improve.”

Miles’ hamstring injury kept him out for the rest of the season, except for a senior night game against Unatego/Franklin/GMU where he played at quarterback and solely threw the ball. Miles will go down as one of the program’s best, holding the all-time leading rushing record with nearly 4,000 yards on the ground. Nightingale was proud of how Miles helped contribute to the team from the sidelines.

“He’s really taken [the injury] in stride,” Nightingale said. “I can’t ask for anything more from one of my captains and leaders. To be a four-year starter and know that he’s putting up phenomenal numbers and knowing he’s the leader of the team to all of a sudden not being able to play, with a hamstring it’s just so tricky… He’s really just taken a role as almost an assistant coach.”

With Jay sidelined, his brother Melo took charge as the lead back. The senior rushed for over 1,000 yards while still being a strong force defensively as one of their top tacklers. The Miles brothers will have left a lasting legacy on the program, even if they didn’t join forces on the gridiron as much this season.

“When they’re both together, they’re so fun to watch,” Nightingale said. “It’s even more fun to watch Melo take the step into the feature role at this point. He does whatever we need him to do, and he does it without complaining. My favorite part about it is watching Jay support him. They’re brothers. They share a bedroom, so I can imagine there’s some nights where they’re not always the best of friends. But when they’re together on the football field, it was fun to watch.”

One player who the Lions will build around next season is Gavin Valenti. The junior stepped up on offense with around 250 rushing yards and continued to be a defensive force as their leading tackler.

“Gavin is one of those hard-working kids,” Nightingale said. “He has no ability to quit. He’s a gym rat. He loves the weight room, and he does so much of the dirty work for Jay and Melo. So much of Melo and Jay’s success is Gavin laying the groundwork in front of them. On defense, he’s always in the box. He can get out and play coverage if we need him to. He flies around, and when he’s done at the end of the night, he is a tired man because he has thrown his body all over the field.”

Dryden’s season came to a close on home turf as Volante Field hosted both Section IV eight-man semifinal matchups on November 8. The fourth-seeded Lions fell to the top-seed Unatego 44–6, bringing an end to an enjoyable maiden voyage in the eight-man scene.